Security for luggage is an important issue for travelers. Every day, many people have their belongings stolen from inside their hard case or soft-sided luggage. In, contrast to soft-sided luggage, hard cases are not as vulnerable to theft as both the lid and the compartment are rigid shells, buckled together and locked with a combination lock or padlock. It is thus very difficult to separate the hard case lid from the main compartment. While considered more secure, hard cases are not a popular choice among travelers because they are typically heavy and not easily manipulated to fit within confined spaces such as overhead bins or automobile trunks.
In contrast, soft-sided luggage is typically much lighter and pliable for easier travel and storage. Soft-sided luggage predominately utilizes a zipper that traverses the outer perimeter and thus allows easy access to the internal compartment, whether authorized or not. A common way of preventing unauthorized access into the internal contents of soft-sided luggage is to lock the zipper's two pull-tabs together with a padlock. While a padlock locking the two pull-tabs together prevents the unauthorized unzipping of the zipper, it fails to prevent a breach along the zipper chain. A closed zipper chain can readily be breached by simply jabbing it with one of many common items such as a pencil, pen, knife, fork, or screwdriver, regardless of whether the pull tabs are locked or not.
After an opening is created along the zipper chain, the remaining closed chain can be easily separated by manually pulling the zipper teeth apart and exposing the internal contents. The unauthorized person would then have complete access to either steal the contents of the luggage or place dangerous materials inside, including chemical, radioactive, or biological agents, and explosives. After accessing the internal compartment, the intruder could then slide the zipper pull tabs, whether locked together or not, along the chain, thus zipping the opening closed so the intrusion is difficult to detect.
Until now, the above-described susceptibility of zippers has not been adequately addressed, much less a viable solution. Accordingly, one object of the teachings herein is to provide improvements to zippered, soft-sided luggage that prevent unauthorized access into the internal contents, yet still retain the popular properties of soft-sided luggage, including lightweight and pliability.